SD Card Error: ‘The disk is not formatted

Hey folks, I’m getting an error on my SD card that says ‘The disk is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?’ But I can’t afford to lose the data on it. I’ve tried it on multiple devices, and it still gives the same error. Is there any way to fix this error without formatting the card, or is data recovery possible? Any tools or steps I should try?

Tagged: SD card

SD card

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Sowen

Participant

November 18, 2025 at 9:42 am

It usually means the file system on your SD card is corrupted, but the data is still physically there. Don’t format it yet- that only makes recovery harder.

Kai Vortex

Participant

September 30, 2025 at 5:34 am

First things first: don’t format the card yet. That error usually means the file system is corrupted, but your data might still be there.

Here’s what I’d try:
– Try a recovery tool like: Recuva (free and easy to use on Windows), PhotoRec (a bit nerdier, but powerful), Stellar (has a free version that works pretty well)
Just install one, let it scan the SD card, and see if your files show up.

– Try CHKDSK (Windows): Plug in the SD card. Open Command Prompt (as admin), Type: chkdsk X: /f (replace “X” with the SD card drive letter).
Sometimes this magically fixes the corruption without deleting anything

-Try a different card reader or computer: You’d be surprised how often the reader is the issue, not the card itself.

If nothing works and recovery tools don’t find your stuff, then yeah, you might have to format it

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)